7 Quick Tips To Make iOS 7 Faster on iPhone 4

When iOS 7 was released, it supported a wide range of iOS devices. However, there are devices that barely made the cut, including the iPhone 4. In an ideal world, being iOS 7 supported means that the iPhone 4 will run the OS smoothly. But with its aging A4 chip processor, performance issues are likely to rear its ugly head on iOS 7. Being an older device, there are features that iPhone 4 users will not be able to take advantage as well. But don't fret, here are some quick tips on how to make iOS 7 faster on iPhone 4.

Tweaks to Speed Up iOS 7 on iPhone 4

NOTE: These tips are not exclusively applicable to the iPhone 4. You can also implement these tweaks on any of your iOS device to give it a considerable boost while running iOS 7. As an added bonus, performing some of these tweaks can greatly improve battery life on iOS 7.

Close Running Background Apps

There has been a great deal of debate surrounding this topic. Some are saying that there is zero processing going on while apps are held in the background. However, when you have twenty or more apps suspended in the background, it's safe to say that its taking its toll on the device's resources. Resources that are best spent better elsewhere. To terminate background apps, simply bring up the multitasking view by double-tapping the Home button. Then, simply flick the screenshot cards upwards to close them. For more details on how to close running apps in iOS 7, check out this post.

Disable Background App Refresh

iOS 7 brought a new option called Background App Refresh which essentially allows apps to refresh data even when placed in the background. As you might have guessed, these constant app refresh can also consume system resources. So it is not a good idea to keep this option enabled on iPhone 4. If you want to keep Background App Refresh enabled, just select specific apps that can really use the feature such as Google Maps and RunKeeper. Go to Settings > General > Background App Refresh and flip that switch to OFF. Disabling Background App Refresh can also greatly improve your battery life.

Disable Location Services

Unless you are actively using Google Maps, Waze or have the habit of checking in wherever you go, then you don't really need your iPhone 4 to constantly ping your location. So make iOS 7 faster on iPhone 4 by disabling location services when it's not needed. Simply navigate to Settings > Privacy > Location Services and toggle that switch to OFF. Just like with Background App Refresh, you can select which apps can utilize Location Services. So choose according to your needs. Apps such as Passbook don't really need this feature.

Disable Wi-Fi & Bluetooth When Unused

This tweak is pretty much a no-brainer if you want to conserve system resources and battery life. If you have Wi-Fi or Bluetooth enabled, your iPhone 4 will constantly update and seek communication which consumes resources and battery juice. With the introduction of the Control Center on iOS 7, you can easily access your radio communication settings by simply swiping from the bottom edge of your screen.

Turn Off Notification Center Options

You don't really need to have all your installed apps send you notification every now and then, do you? While it's extremely useful for certain apps, receiving notifications for each and every app is very annoying and distracting, not to mention that it also wastes battery, processing resources, and data. So navigate to Settings -> Notification Center.

From here, you can choose which apps to allow the sending of notifications. Only choose apps that are absolutely essential. You don't really need notifications from apps or games that you barely even touch. As a general rule, you might want to have your "Do Not Include" list to be longer than the "Include" list.

Delete Unused Apps & Games

Freeing storage space is perhaps one of the most simple ways to make iOS 7 faster on iPhone 4. The more free space you have, the faster your device will perform. So check your app library and determine which apps you can do without. Apps that you barely or don't use at all are good candidates for deletion. Older games that have updated versions such as Infinity Blade and Temple Run are also good considerations.

Your information are saved in the App Store and Game Center, so you can always re-download later just in case. As an added bonus, you can also get to reduce the clutter from your iPhone, just a little spring cleaning if you will.

Full Reinstall

If the above measures are completed and still your iPhone 4 continues to struggle in terms of performance, as a last resort, perhaps it calls for a full reinstallation of iOS 7. Remember that a reinstallation will wipe everything off from your iPhone, so make sure that you do a full backup before attempting to restore.

Before you perform a full restore, make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed. Simply launch iTunes and click the Restore iPhone button found at the Devices view to begin the restore process. After successful restore, restore to the latest backup you've made. After that, you should have a fresher and faster copy of iOS 7 installed on your iPhone 4.

Final Thoughts

Many folks are saying that iOS 7 is unusable on the iPhone 4. Well, I'd like to chalk it up to high performance standards or they haven't performed these iOS 7 tweaks yet. Sure, iOS 7 on iPhone 4 is far from ideal in terms of speed and performance, but it's holding pretty well considering that it's a three year-old device. If you have your own tips on how to make iOS 7 faster on iPhone 4, feel free to share them below.